Protect you
by Ferowyn
Summary: Hobbit Kink Meme Prompt: Bofur and Bilbo end up accidentally married


_Prompt: I don't know why, I don't know how, but they end up accidentally married. PLEASE WITH A HAPPY ENDING!_

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**Protect you**

Bilbo was staring at Gandalf unbelievably, not able to move. He was completely and utterly shocked. "_What_ did you say?"

Gandalf smiled at him, his eyes sparkling. "You are married now", he repeated.

"B-but it is only a necklace!"

"It is a _bewitched_ necklace", the old wizard corrected him. "And the spell is truly interesting. I've never heard of it being used on jewellery, though. Usually the elves charm big gems they keep hidden carefully and when a couple want to bind their souls together they touch it at the same time. But at other times they make sure nobody will touch it unintentionally."

"So you are saying" Bilbo's voice was high-pitched "that we are not only married, but that our _souls are bound together_?"

Gandalf smiled brightly. "Indeed, my dear Bilbo." Bofur still had not found his voice.

"But if this is some elf-witchcraft surely it will not affect dwarves and hobbits?" Thorin interjected.

"Oh, it definitely does. Whatever they do the elves do properly." Thorin only huffed. "I have to admit I am far more interested in how the trolls got hold of such a necklace", Gandalf muttered. "And I would love to know whether they got married." Kili almost choked on his apple.

They were sitting in the room Lord Elrond had given them and were discussing the strange blue light that had surrounded Bilbo and Bofur when the hobbit had handed the necklace he had picked up in the troll cave to the dwarf.

"Well… what does this mean? For Bofur and me?" Bilbo barely dared to ask.

Gandalf smiled _again_. "Well, since you are married now you are expected to share a common bed, and to bond with each other. And since your souls are bound – you will not be able to spend much time apart and if one of you should die the other will… fade."

Bilbo buried his face in his hands. "Great. This is just… _great_." Bofur moved for the first time since Gandalf had offered them his explanation and he did so with hanging his head. Bilbo could not quite place the expression flashing across his face for a moment, but he thought it had looked remotely like… disappointment?

"Well. I do advise the two of you to discuss this matter now. It is already late and you will be leaving early tomorrow." Gandalf only whispered the last part, he knew only too well how good the elves' hearing was. "Thorin, Balin and I need to leave now; we have to talk to Lord Elrond."

Thorin raised his eyebrows. "We have to?" he muttered, but rose none the less.

Bilbo sighed. "Well, I guess Gandalf is right, but I suggest we go someplace more… private?"

Bofur only nodded and followed Bilbo into the gardens of Rivendell, both of them ignoring the snickers and whistles of the rest of the company. Bilbo sat down on a stone bench and motioned to the dwarf to follow his example, making sure there was enough space between them. "I am sorry", he said honestly. "I am sorry you are stuck with me now, and I am sorry that you will die if I do. I know I am not a fighter, but I will try my best to survive."

"I'll protect ye", Bofur simply replied and there was a fire in his eyes Bilbo had seen there before, during their journey to Rivendell, whenever he had been in danger.

He smiled, a little baffled, and sighed once more. "We have to talk about a few other things… When Gandalf said sharing a common bed – did he mean sleeping in the same bed, or- … well, you know-" He blushed heavily.

Bofur kept a straight face. "He was talkin' about the latter, but don't worry, I won't make ye."

Bilbo's blush deepened. "I- … I never expected you to… I never thought you would do that", he finally managed to mutter, by now his ears were also showing a remarkable shade of red.

"Good", was all the dwarf said, leaving the talking to Bilbo.

"Uhm… yes." He fidgeted. "What else do we have to discuss?"

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Bofur suddenly looked straight at the hobbit, his expression unusually grave. "When this mission is done we'll have to stay together. Since I imagine ye don't want to spend the rest of yer life in Erebor I'll come to the Shire with you. If we survive, that is."

Bilbo almost choked. "I have not thought of that", he admitted, gasping for air. "But thank you. I guess. We should probably go back?"

Bofur only nodded and they returned to the room, once again ignoring the saucy remarks. Bilbo was a bit surprised when Bofur lay down next to him, a little closer than most of the other dwarves, but he supposed that was part of the 'sharing a bed' and 'bonding'.

oOo

They left early the next day, sneaking out of Rivendell, and Bofur never left Bilbo's side. He was walking next to him when the path allowed it and behind him when they crossed rough terrain, making sure he could catch the hobbit if he should stumble and fall. After some time Bilbo found it quite annoying, but when they got into a battle of stone giants he secretly had to admit that the hand stabilising him ever so often soothed his strained nerves.

Then somehow Kili and Fili ended up walking between Bilbo and Bofur and when the giant started to move the dwarf was ripped away along with Fili and some others. Bilbo could see the horrified look on Kili's face and he felt a panic the source of which he could not tell. They managed to get off the stumbling giant's knee in time, but then they were running for those who had been on the other knee and when Bilbo saw Bofur, lying in that heap on the ground, he was so relieved he stumbled and slipped, barely managing to hold on to the edge.

At first no one noticed, but sure enough it was his husband (what a scary word!) who missed him first. He could feel his fingers slip on the wet stone and then he saw Bofur's face, full of fear and something else. He realized Bofur was fearing for Bilbo's life, not for his own, but he could not tell how he knew this with such a certainty.

Bofur was reaching out for him, but Bilbo could not grasp his hand, and when Thorin saved his life yet another expression he could not place flashed across Bofur's face. Then Thorin was yelling at him, and all he wanted was to go home, to leave the company and return to the Shire, but he realized that was no longer a possibility, not with this marriage and the fact that they could not be away from each other for long periods of time – and they had yet to find out how much time _long_ really was.

oOo

When everyone else was fast asleep in the cave he rose, unable to sleep as well, there were far too many thoughts bothering him. He knew Bofur was keeping guard, so he decided to talk to the other one and have some of his questions answered. He sneaked towards the exit, taking his belongings with him – who knew how long they would end up talking – and sat down looking at Bofur, leaning against the stone wall in his back.

The dwarf gave him a surprised look, but smiled none the less, and Bilbo felt a weight being lifted from his mind. Only then did he realize that Bofur's unusually sombre expression had bothered him, too. He smiled back and sighed, watching his husband with squinted eyes. Bofur raised an eyebrow, his moustache twitching. "I'm glad ye are okay", the dwarf offered and Bilbo nodded his head in thanks.

"I have a question", he stated "or rather a lot of them, but I will start with one." Bofur grinned. "Why did you look like… I don't know, like you had eaten a lemon when Thorin saved me?"

Immediately said look was back. Bofur fidgeted. "I…" he sighed. "I'm supposed to be the one protecting ye, but I failed." He squared his shoulders. "Bilbo Baggins, hereby I ask you to give me the chance to atone for my weakness so that I can prove myself worthy of being your husband." He bowed his head.

Bilbo's eyes widened. "You were not weak! I do not blame you, why would I? You did everything you could!"

Bofur smiled sadly. "I'm not worthy of bein' yer husband", he repeated.

The hobbit shook his head. "What do I have to say to convince you that you are?" he asked, only afterwards realizing how true his words were. If he had to be married to one if the dwarves he definitely preferred Bofur to everyone else. That is, as long as- "Stop looking like this and smile. I like it much better when you are smiling."

The smile that lit up Bofur's face could have illuminated the whole cave.

oOo

About a day later Bilbo found out what "not much time" meant. He had managed to escape the goblins and since then had been separated from Bofur. Now that he was running down the mountain, trying to catch up with the dwarves, he felt a faint pain in his heart that grew stronger with every second.

When he found them Gandalf was asking when they had last seen him and as much as he would have loved to hear everyone's answer, invisible because of the ring, he immediately took of the piece of jewellery and the relief in Bofur's face let the ache in his chest subside.

Then they were attacked by wargs and not much later Bilbo found himself saving Thorin's life, leaving the tree despite Bofur's desperate pleads to stay. Azog was looking at him, coming closer slowly, and he thought he could hear his husband cry out his name, but then they were rescued and a few minutes later Bilbo was sitting on the back of an eagle, leaned against Bofur's chest. An arm was wrapped tightly around his waist and the moustache tickled his neck when Bofur whispered into his ear: "Don't _ever_ do this to me again. _Never_."

Bilbo turned his head to look at him and there was that sour, bitter expression again. He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for giving the necklace to you, forcing you to stay with me, I'm sorry for being a hobbit, not a dwarf, thus making things so much harder for you, and I'm sorry for my Took-side taking over. I did not mean to worry you and I certainly do not judge you because you did not come to my aid" Bofur winces "after all I saw the way you were hanging in that tree, you could not have possibly run towards me. You are worthy of being my husband, and very much so."

"Then how come", Bofur murmured, his voice bitter, "that ye are _sorry_ for marrying me?"

Bilbo's eyes widened. "I… I'm not sorry I married you, I'm only sorry for the circumstances", he admitted.

"So ye don't despise me?"

"Of course not!" Bilbo exclaimed, shocked. He sighed. "Look, Bofur, if I had had to choose anyone of the company I would have chosen you, but I didn't get asked and… I need to get accustomed to _this_, as well as to your dwarvish understanding of marriage. I know you think you need to protect me, and I'm very thankful for that, because I'm not much of a fighter, but I am still a _man_. Please stop making me think I am less."

Bofur did not answer, but wrapped his second arm around Bilbo's chest.

oOo

They were sitting next to the fire, everyone else fast asleep. Bofur was keeping guard and Bilbo had decided to keep him company. In the last few days the hobbit had gotten used to the dwarf staying at his side all the time, sleeping next to him (one arm wrapped around his waist protectively) and fighting next to him. He had also begun to learn how to read Bofur's expressions, and to see the differences between his husband's smiles.

Bofur put one arm around Bilbo's shoulders and drew him close.

Bilbo buried his face in the crook of his husband's neck and smiled. "You liked me", he stated, something he had been guessing for some time now.

Bofur raised his eyebrows. "I still like ye!"

"I mean before we were married. I grew to like you when I got to know you better, but you already liked me before."

"Guess I did", Bofur muttered and kept silent for a while before he asked: "Ye like me?"

"That's what I said, yes." He could not help but smile.

"Does that mean I finally get to kiss ye?"

Bilbo chuckled lowly. "By all means." He felt utterly content. _And maybe_, he thought, Bofur's lips pressed against his own and the moustache tickling his chin_, maybe the rest of this adventure is going to be quite enjoyable. I have to admit I'm glad I left home._


End file.
